


Keith's Guide to the Perfect Valentine's Gift

by sishariff



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura and Hunk work way too hard in this, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cute, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Food, Homesick Lance (Voltron), M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, Wingman Allura (Voltron), Wingman Hunk (Voltron), beach date, what is canon? this fic does not know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 09:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18443621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sishariff/pseuds/sishariff
Summary: Keith and Lance have been dating for a while, but now they are approaching an important day. Will Keith give Lance a Valentine's to remember? Or one he wishes he could forget?I suck at summaries. Sorry >_<





	Keith's Guide to the Perfect Valentine's Gift

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be done by Valentine's Day, but I got distracted.... so have a two month late Valentine's Day Fic!

Keith knew that Lance kept diligent track of the date on Earth. He knew that Lance had Pidge create a program that kept track of what date and time it was in his hometown a month after they left Earth and started their journey in protecting the universe.

He knew that Lance checked that program whenever he could. He checked at least once every movement, even more, if it was nearing a special day to him.

Keith knew that Lance quietly kept watch of every special day he was missing. He watched the clock countdown to birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and any day he knew that people he loved- the people who raised him and who were probably worried sick about his disappearance- would be celebrating.

Keith knew he could not lessen that pain for him. He knew that he could not make up for missing a nephew’s birthday, or a sibling’s graduation. He couldn’t make up for all the memories missed, the cakes not eaten, the fireworks not watched. For almost all of these days, Keith could do nothing but watch.

Except for one.

Keith had been keeping track of this particular holiday for months- ever since he and Lance started dating. He knew that it was one of Lance’s favorite holidays. He knew because last year Lance had planned a huge romantic surprise for Allura that had been ruined by a Galra attack.

This year Lance would be the one getting the surprise.

Because Keith was going to give him the most amazing Valentine’s Day he could have ever asked for.

****

 

Keith started planning about a Phoeb before the special day. He wrote down countless ideas and threw away all of them. _Too many variables, not romantic enough, completely stupid-_ no idea seemed to fit.

He needed something flexible in case there was another attack.

They couldn’t just climb in a lion and jet on to the most romantic space tour of all time. He had to be practical. They needed to stay in the castle in case they were needed, but Keith wanted to give Lance something special to remember. He wanted to give him a day different from the rest. He didn’t want to just give him a nice present and fall back into their daily routine of training, strategizing, and hanging out with the other Paladins. He wanted to give Lance a day where he forgot he was stuck in the middle of an intergalactic war- a day where he felt normal and happy and loved. He wanted him to feel at home with him.

Keith spent three full movements thinking of and discarding plans before one finally stuck.

It happened while he was in the kitchen with Hunk and Allura.

He had just spent hours trying to think of one- _just one_ \- good idea of what to do for Lance on Valentine’s day. His hair is a mess from the number of times he’s stuck his hand in it trying to pull out something-anything- that didn’t suck.

“Wow, you look tired,” said Hunk “ Have you been feeling okay, Keith? This is like the third time this week you’ve looked like you had your head stuck in a dryer.”

“ Thanks, Hunk,” He responded sarcastically, “ I _feel_ like my head’s been stuck in a dryer.”

“What is the matter, Keith?” Allura asked.

“ Nothing. It’s just this stupid thing I can’t seem to figure out. Don’t worry about it.”

“ Keith,” Allura said sternly, sitting up in her chair and radiating authority, “We are your teammates. If something is affecting you, it is affecting all of us. It is your duty as our teammate and friend to come to us when you are facing a problem.”

“It’s really not a big deal, guys, and it has nothing to do with the team. I promise. It won’t affect Voltron at all. Don’t worry.”

“Come on, man,” Hunk exclaimed, placing a milkshake in front of him “ three brains are better than one. Even if it has nothing to do with us, we still want to help.”

Keith thought about it for a second. Everyone already knew he and Lance were dating so it wouldn’t seem weird that he wanted to do something romantic for him. Plus, Hunk was Lance’s best friend. He knew Lance better than anyone- even Keith.

Allura’s help would also be useful. She knew space and the castle better than anyone else. If there was anyone who could help him find a private place for them, it was her. She was also way better at gifts and planning than Keith. If she helped him plan a surprise there would be no doubt it would be perfect.

“ Fine,” Keith ducked his head in his hands, mustering all the courage he could before continuing, “ It’s just... that Valentine’s Day is coming up, and-”

Hunk screeched, “ OH MY GOSH! IT IS! I COMPLETELY FORGOT!” He turned around and started muttering to himself “ cupcakes would ... but what could be used for flour? Maybe...  or... Is space chocolate a thing? I’m going to have to make-”

“HUNK!” Allura yelled, snapping him out of his baking related spiral before turning to Keith, “continue...”

Keith swallowed. “Right. Okay. So I’ve been trying to think of something to do for Lance for weeks now and I can’t think of anything.”

Hunk laughed. “That’s it?! That’s easy. Lance would be happy with anything you got him. Heck, he would just be excited that you remembered!”

Keith frowned at his milkshake,” I know, but I want to do _something_ for him. He helped me so much with this being Galra stuff, and Black, and Shiro, and... just everything. And he never complains, even though I know he misses Earth more than anything, and I just. I just...” He takes a second to calm himself down, “ I just want to give him something that reminds him of home” he finally says.

Hunk grabs his hand, forcing him to look up from his milkshake and make eye contact for the first time since he started talking.

“ Holidays are a huge thing for Lance even at home. Just celebrating an Earth holiday will remind him of home.”

Keith relaxes for the first time in days. Hunk was right, no matter what he did Lance would appreciate it.

“ Besides,” Hunk continues, “if you really want to remind him of his Valentine’s Days on Earth, spend the day avoiding him. That’s what all of Lance’s crushes on Earth did.”

They all laugh, and Allura chimes in finally. “I don’t know much about these Earth traditions, but on Altea when a couple was to get married they would both travel to the places of their births and thank the ground for taking care of their mate. I know neither of you plan to marry at the moment,” She continues, seeing Keith’s blushed face, “ but perhaps you could make the tradition your own.”

“ I’d love to, Allura, but we can’t exactly go to Earth right now.”

“ Well, of course, you cannot go to Earth, but we may have the next best thing,” she says staring at Keith’s milkshake.

 

****

In the end, Keith’s present became a group project. Allura helped him set everything up, and Hunk made all of Lance’s favorite foods,  or as close to Lance’s favorite foods as he could get with space ingredients.

The hardest part was keeping Lance from noticing. By the time Valentine’s Day arrived Keith had canceled two date nights, told approximately fifty-two lies, and had one make-out session to keep Lance out of the kitchen.

Oh, the sacrifices he made in the name of love!

In all seriousness, Keith was glad this would be over soon. He didn’t like lying to Lance. Even if it was for something like this, lying made him feel dirty. As if they weren’t really partners. He knew it was silly, and that it was perfectly normal and natural not to tell your significant other everything, but he really wanted to. He wanted to tell Lance all about this present. He wanted to tell Lance how hard he had worked to get the details just right. He wanted to tell him about all the help Allura and Hunk gave him in making his gift as good as it could be.

Luckily, he would get to tell him soon.

***

 

Keith’s Valentine’s day was divided into three parts.

 

Part one: Avoid Lance.

This was really more of a precaution than anything else. Everyone knew Keith was a horrible actor, and if Lance so much as smiled at him today, they all knew the secret would be out.

It would be especially hard because Keith knew Lance would be looking for him to give Keith _his own_ present, but Lance could give Keith his present any other day.

Today was about him.

As soon as Keith got to breakfast he realized he’d underestimated how hard this would be.

Lance was persistent. He tried to make eye contact with Keith throughout the meal and tried to play footsie with him even though Keith had purposefully sat as far from him as possible. When that failed he had passive-aggressively tried to get someone to announce what the date was.

Thank stars for Allura, she was able to get Keith out of there without much of a problem, by saying she required his help with “important Blade business.” How it had worked Keith would never know, but he was eternally grateful.  

“Do you really think you will be able to ignore him until it’s time?” She asked once they were far enough from the dining room not to be overheard, “It’s only been one Varga, and we need a few more at least until everything is ready.”

“It’ll be fine,” Keith says with more confidence than he feels- at least he hopes it shows more confidence. “If anything goes wrong I’ll just-”

“Uh, Keith?” He heard a voice say from down the hall. Damn, why’d it have to be _that_ voice?! “ Can I borrow you for a sec?”

Lance sounded unsure. Keith turned to see him slowly walking towards them with a blush. _Cute._

“Of course, Lance,” Allura said out of nowhere. Keith quickly turned to her, ready to plead with her not to leave him. He knew the second he saw that blush on Lance’s cheeks that he couldn’t do this. She couldn’t abandon him!

She returned his look with a hard stare, one that reminded him that she was probably the deadliest person in the castle- hell, maybe even the whole galaxy.

“I’ll just be on the deck if either of you need me. “ She said before leaving them.

Keith stared at the back of her head as long as he could, silently begging her to come back and have mercy on him.

“Keith,” Lance says slowly drawing his attention back to him, “ I want to give you something.”

“Oh. uhh, Lance-”

“Relax, will you?” Lance grabs Keith’s chin and turns him to finally meet his gaze, “It’s nothing big. I just felt like giving you something.”

Keith was shocked. Lance wasn’t going to remind him. He thought that Keith had forgotten Valentine’s day- their FIRST Valentine’s day together- and he was just going to brush it aside and give Keith a present?!?! He didn’t know whether to punch Lance or kiss him.

And it really stung that for the sake of his own present he wasn’t allowed to do either.

“I got them when we went to that bazaar with those slime aliens last week-you know the ones that looked like slugs the size of bears?-” He pulled what looked like a pair of earrings out from his pocket.

They were completely black and were sharp. They almost looked like a pair of small black swords, with handles and everything.

“Anyways, they’ve got some crazy Galra tech in them, so that when you do this-” he pushed the sword part of the earring completely onto the hilt. He let go of the sharp end and held on to the hilt. It immediately grew into a full sized sword. “ -that happens.”

“Lance,  they’re amazing.” They really were. Keith knew he wasn’t an easy person to shop for- he had a knife and his jacket; what more could he want? - but Lance had crushed it. Keith was absolutely shocked. He didn’t even care that he was supposed to be AVOIDING Lance, or that he needed to meet up with Hunk to make sure that the food was ready and that neither the mice nor Pidge snuck into it.

Lance had gotten him a gift- an amazing, useful, and thoughtful, and _deadly_ gift- and he wanted to kiss him for it.

So he did.

“So you like them?” Lance asks once they broke away.

Keith caresses his cheek, “I love them.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool.”

Lance kisses him again.

 

After a few minutes, Lance shows Keith how to turn the swords back into earrings and helps Keith put them on.

“Thanks,” Keith says when they’re finally on.

“No problem. “ Lance’s smile could power the whole ship and it was _doing things_ to Keith’s heart. “ Anyways, I was hoping we could hang out today. You know, just us.”

Well, shit. This is exactly why Keith was supposed to avoid Lance. How was he going to get out of this without tipping Lance off to his own surprise?! It’s not like he had any actual work to do. His only “jobs” at the moment were to train and wait- not exactly things that he could justify brushing Lance off with.

“Uhhh, I can’t.”

“Oh.”

Crap. Crap. CRAP. Lance was doing _the pout_. If Keith looked at him for much longer he would be putty in his hands, and then he could say good-bye to his surprise. He needed to get out of there- fast.

“I... promised Hunk I’d help him with this project he’s working on.”

“I’m sure Hunk won’t mind if you help him later. Or tomorrow.” Lance’s eyes were almost begging. Keith needed to get out of there.

“Maybe, but... he thinks it could really help with the war,... and I’d rather just get it done.”

Lance finally conceded. “Fine,” he said, wearing a fake smile. “I’ll see you later, yeah?”

Keith kissed him one last time, not willing to let that fake smile stay on his face.

“Yeah, later.”

And with that Keith practically ran away from his boyfriend.

 

Part one: a complete failure.

 

***

Part two: set everything up

 

This stage at least went without any issues. The hardest part was getting Kaltenecker to move, but in the end, Allura just came and picked her up.

After that, he helped Hunk set up all the food and listened attentively when Hunk told him what fork was for what and “for the love of god, don’t eat with your Blade knife.”

Then he was shoved off to the mice for them to dress him up. He ended up arguing with them for about ten minutes because the Altean version of a suit was ... lets just say it was not his style.

In the end, he wore his normal clothes, but the mice insisted on braiding his hair, and he let them- if only so he could leave.

Finally, he’s done.

Now the actual fun could begin.

 

Part two: complete

***

Part three: get Lance to the Holodeck and have the best Valentine’s day date ever

 

Lance was having the worst Valentine’s Day ever. It was one thing to spend Valentine’s Day playing Super Mario alone while single, but doing it while his _boyfriend_ was a few rooms away.

Yeah. He was not happy.

It wasn’t that Keith didn’t remember. He didn’t expect him to. They were in the middle of a war- a SPACE war, no less. If there was any situation where forgetting was excusable, it was this one.

So no, Lance wasn’t upset about Keith forgetting. He was upset about the fact that he hadn’t really seen Keith in weeks. Three weeks, to be exact.

Sure he saw him around the castle and, yes, they trained every day, but he hadn’t _really_  seen him for weeks. The most he had gotten was a quick makeout in an empty hallway, which he loved- don’t get him wrong, he would happily drown in that mouth- but he wanted to _talk_ to Keith. He wanted to spend time together, and hear Keith’s laugh, and play with his hair. He wanted to play video games with Keith, and laugh at him every time he died.

But instead, he was playing them alone. In the dark. No mullets in sight.

“Stupid Keith,” He murmured while jumping on a Goomba's head, “ Take that, you idiot.“

The only thing that kept him going the last week was the hope that spending less time with each other for the last few weeks would make today more special. He had fantasized about today for weeks.

And it was all ruined because Keith couldn’t put his own desires over the stupid war for once in his life.

It was one of the things he always admired about Keith- his ability to be so focused on a task. It made him a great leader and an attentive boyfriend, but right now he would give five bottles of his expensive rose-water clay face mask to get Keith to focus less and relax more.

He finished the level and immediately moved on to the next. He had some frustrations he needed to work out, and jumping on Goombas was the best way to do them at the moment.

He plays as fast as he can. Jumping, and hitting, and running through the map like a champion. He goes to jump over the hole to the midpoint flag when a really loud knock makes him jump and drop the controller. He watches as Mario falls in the hole, crying, but goes to answer the door immediately after.

Maybe Keith and Hunk got done early. They could have the rest of the day together! They wouldn’t be able to have the snacks he had stolen for them from the kitchen since he ate them already, but other than that their Valentine’s Date could go just as he - “oh.”

It was not Keith.

Standing in the doorway to his room was Princess Allura. She was wearing her armor like always and had her hair in a bun.

“You don’t look happy to see me, Lance. Were you expecting someone else?”

Lance blushes a little and turns away.

“I...I guess not.”

He walks back inside his room and motions for Allura to follow. She takes a step inside so that the door can close, but goes no further.

“Are you busy at the moment?”

“Not really,” he says as he sits down on his bed, “just trying to beat Pidge’s score.” he picks the controller back up and begins playing again.

“Wonderful!” Allura moves in front of the T.V., blocking Lance’s view and making him die again.

“OH, COME ON!” He screamed, throwing the controller on the other side on the bed.

“Seeing as you are not doing anything of importance, perhaps you could help me with something.”

He really didn’t want to. Normally he would jump at the chance to be of use to his teammates, but he just had his heart hurt today and, honestly, all he wanted to do was play video games and stew in his self-pity.

“ Why can’t someone else help you?” He whined as he plopped back on his bed, “Can’t you see I’m sulking!”

“Yes, Lance, it is very clear that you are sulking, but as your team leader I request your help and, like a good teammate, you should give it.” She steps closer to him, until she is right in front of his face, “ Besides. You still owe me for the earrings.”

“Ugh. I knew I should have gotten something cheaper.” He sits up, “Fine. Let’s go.”

 

Lance realizes where they are going as soon as Allur turns left after the kitchen.

“Seriously?! You dragged me out of my sulk-fest to get _milk_?!”

“ Yes.” She doesn’t even look back at him. Just keeps walking.

“I’ve shown you how to do it. You don’t need me to milk Kaltenecker for you!”

“Perhaps, but I prefer if you do it. I don’t like getting near her.”

“She’s a _cow!_ I cannot believe that you can fight a _literal dictator,_ but you are scared of a coO-“

They had arrived at the Holodeck. The second the door opened, Lance’s brain stopped working.

In front of them was not a field of grass and Kaltenecker, like he expected, but a beach. Wait no. It was _his_ beach. It had the same rocks as the beach he had grown up by as a kid. There was the same staircase he slipped down when he was five and broke his nose- and there was the picnic table he spent every birthday with his family- There was the pile of rocks he had made on the edge of the beach with Veronica so that they could practice balance- and, right in the middle of the beach-standing with a bouquet of flowers next to a picnic spread on the sand, was Keith.

“Hi,” Keith said shyly.

Lance’s brain must have not started back up yet, because he still didn’t understand what was going on.

“Hi,” He so eloquently replied.

Keith cleared his throat, “ Happy Valentines Day.”

Suddenly, Lance’s brain fired back up all at once. “ Yo-You remembered!?!”

“Of course I remembered,” Keith said, stepping closer to Lance, “ it's our first one.”

Lance blushed, looking away from Keith to where Allura was.

She smiled at him and gave him a little push inside. “ Have fun, you two. You deserve it.”

She then closed the door and walked away.

Lance stood staring at where she had been.

Keith coughed, startling him out of his head.

“Soooo... I got you these.” He said handing the flowers over.

As soon as he touches them it’s like his mind finally catches up and he finally takes it all in.

“Keith, how did you do this?” He breathes out, stepping forward to get a better view of the beach.

It really _was_ the beach by his house. It was missing a few details- like the height markings his Abuelita had made on the stairs tracking his nephew’s growth- but it was so similar that it couldn’t have been anywhere else.

“ Do you like it?” Keith asked nervously, “ We recreated it from Hunk’s memories of visiting you. I know it probably isn’t perfect, but Allura told me about some Altman tradition and we had this idea and, oh no,  does it make you homesick? I’m so sorry I can change it. Let me jusHhMHhmm-“

Lance cut him off with a kiss before he could start babbling even worse.

“ I love it,” he said once he felt Keith had relaxed enough for him to let him go.

“Really?”

“Yes, really, Keith!” Lance said, exasperated, “You gave me the coolest Valentines Day gift ever! I’m literally at home while being who knows how many light years away from it! How cool is that! Look, you even got the purple rocks from when...”

Lance took Keith’s hand and lead him around the beach showing him all the memories he had on this beach. They walked around for what felt like hours, Lance telling him about anything and everything that came to mind and Keith listening as closely as he could.

“ Are you hungry?” Keith asked, interrupting the story Lance was telling him about the time he and Veronica found a bunch of baby sea turtles.

“ I could eat.” He says.

Keith leads them over to the picnic spread in the middle of the beach. Lance hadn’t paid much attention to it. He was too busy being in awe of being _home,_ but now that he looked at it it was just as awe-inspiring as the rest of the beach.

On the checkered picnic blanket, there was a spread of all his favorite foods. There was Paella, and croquettes, and garlic bread. He saw tamales, and churros, and a whole chocolate cake sitting on the blanket.

“That’s... a lot of food,” He said.

Keith smiles sheepishly, “ I had Hunk make all of your favorites... or at least whatever version of them he could while being in space. We can always save the leftovers.”

Lance smiled and kissed him before plopping himself down in front of the feast. He picked up a plate and handed it to Keith. “Lets eat.”

 

They spent the rest of the day laying down, staring at the perpetual sunset on the horizon, while Lance played with Keith’s hair.

Suddenly Keith turns over to stare at Lance. Lance turns to match his stance.

“So. How did you like your present?”

Lance can’t help but smile. “I loved it.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool.”

Keith kisses him.

  
  


“Good luck topping this next year.”  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter or Tumblr if you want. I warn you, both of them are mostly BNHA.


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